Deep in the Napa Valley, a story of past and present unfolds. When Vene learns that her mother Olivia is nearing death, she reluctantly returns to her family home, only to find her mother as cold and difficult as ever; but when Vene discovers an old cookbook, filled with revelatory notes, a whole new side of her mother is revealed to her: a passionate young woman capable of love, of humour. 

Moving back and forth in time, between Vene and Olivia’s stories, set half a century apart, One Friday in Napa is a rich story of love and loss, of generational hurt and complex family dynamics, of sacrifice, bitter disappointments and the expectations placed on women, about how our past shapes our own future relationships, about the choices we make out of loyalty rather than love, as well as the small moments of agency and rebellion that allow us to regain some sense of self, and control over our lives. As the stories unfold in tandem, this challenging mother-daughter relationship enters new territories with the slow reveal of a past, and new reflections on the present, that creates space for each to better understand the other before it’s too late, and for long held secrets to finally be revealed.

Hamm’s writing is particularly descriptive, taking great pleasure in the small details with evocative writing that captures the views, light, colours, tastes and vineyards of Napa Valley, as well as the joys and passion of Italian food. While this is a dual timeline story, it’s in the illuminating of Olivia’s past that this novel really shines.

A beautifully written and heart wrenching multigenerational small family saga, reminding us of the lives our parents lived long before us, and the secrets and rich stories that may lie within any family.

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One Friday in Napa is published by She Writes Press on August 29th 2023. Thank you to the publisher for my eARC.

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jennifer Hamm graduated with a BA in English at UCLA and began her writing career developing screenplays for movies and television. As a travel writer, she has covered the globe on assignment for various magazines and brands. She also writes It’s Only for A Year, a long-running blog chronicling her adventures raising her four boys in two countries. Hamm currently splits her time between London and Los Angeles. One Friday in Napa is her first novel.